Hanging with the Beautiful People

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to test the search box and report back.

The results are that almost no one finds my side bar works regardless of whether they use apple/dell/HP/Gateway windows xp/7 IE/Firefox/Chrome. It also appears others are having the same problem on their blogs but some lucky people are not. I used to be one of those lucky people and now I’m not. It seems to be one of those blogger things that makes me wish I’d used Word Press. Maybe you word press people have woes of your own but if you do, I hope word press is easier to contact than blogger about your problem. There is no contacting blogger. Tough luck seems to be their motto.

Now Back to the fun stuff

It’s finally starting to warm up. High today 76 so the manatee may not be around much longer.

Thus today is mostly spent with the manatee. We start out in the morning walking the board walk to see what they are doing.

They are, as usual, swimming or playing or hugging or resting. Just plain having fun. We also see what I think are the Manatee Research divers. But their shirts say USGS not Save the Manatee. What interest would the United States Geologic Survey have in Manatee Research? Have to ask that question of the next ranger I see.

I call her Mona the Magnificent. I think she’s prettier than the “real” Mona Lisa.

While at one of the spring run overlooks, we visit with probably the most photographed specific manatee at the park. Of course we get our pictures with her too. Isn’t she gorgeous. Click on the photos to see her mosaics up close.

She used to reside on the porch of the Thursby House but apparently about a year ago some fraternity prank guys stole her even though she was chained to the porch. They hid her in the woods and damaged her nose. She was only found and returned about 6 months ago. I really hope they will have the damage to her nose repaired. Maybe a generous mosaic artist will volunteer to do what looks like a small but important job. It’s such a shame. She really is a gorgeous work of art.

The other manatee like to play around the rope at the end of the spring run.

Lots of splashing and rubbing around the sign and the rope. I see them during the afternoon playing and then again after sunset. As you can tell from the pictures, they are here in a big group. You don’t suppose it’s a team sport do you??

Here’s looking at you!

Sun is setting, it’s cooling down.

I return to the boardwalk around sundown and get these shots from the boat dock.

When I walk from the dock to the sandy shore line next to the rope at the end of the spring run, I can see the party continues even after dark. These pictures were taken with my flash.

If you look closely there are 7 or 8 in the group. I could reach out and touch them they are so close. Sure would have liked to but this is a manatee refuge and they ask you not to. There is also a $500 fine for harassing the manatee in a refuge.

Got him rolling over. Flipper up.

When it gets SO dark I can’t see them anymore, I use a flashlight to walk the nice wooded and paved path back to the campground.

Wonderful! They're some of my favorite creatures on the planet. I meant to ask you guys yesterday, have you seen the manatee stirring up great clouds of silt? There's a mineral in there that they love, and so mess up the banks in search of it. In fact, last year they almost caused some of the trees to fall onto the metal dock because they dug out all the sand underneath the bank.

I get the feeling being with the Manatees is your very favorite thing to do....... until your next stop. I love the way you get so excited about the places you go and the things you see. And the best part of it is I get to go along too...... through your eyes. Thank you for your wonderful blog Sherry

These Manatee are adorable and so delightfully social. I too would have a hard time not hugging one, but would show respect. A shame about the mosaic piece being stolen and broken. The Manatee silhouette reminds me of big happy exclamation points.

What a cool experience. Finally catching up on my reading and I read about your woes re: the search bar. I've had occasional problems with mine, but it seems to be of short duration and fixes itself. Have you tried deleting the gadget and adding it again? Also, here's a link to a blog about all things Blogger ... perhaps you can search it for some solutions, or report your problem here ... http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/